if you want to play Traverse you need to be running more card types.
try Mishra's Bauble or similar. 3 skirge probably wont cut it.
Also gifts just seems like an expensive and awkward option when you could run cards like Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods
But why pull off this useless infinite when you could take 1-5 Extra turns, cheat in an emrakul, or other instantly game winning effects with a doubling season.
Mulligans are 100% deck specific. There is NO general rule.
My best advice is to know your deck. Decks that you build, you know exactly what you want, and how risky you can be, because you designed it.
Another thing to consider would be doing some math. Pull up a Hyper-Geometric Calculator and run some numbers to see how risky it is to keep 1/2/3 land hands, and the %chance youll draw another with the remaining cards in your library (53 on turn 1, 52 on turn 2, etc).
Lastly, sit down and goldfish 100 hands. Keep them all and play a singleplayer game of magic. See what works, and take note of it.
your lists are very similar. Differences ive noticed is a lack of resto angels in her build, and a preference for Lone Missionary over soul warden. Also, no vials. Pretty sure shes on 2 emeria and no thought knots as well. I can ask to take a peek tomorrow night at FNM if youd like the exact numbers
I ran this in a mono blue control shell 2 years ago with forced card draw as my wincon (create infinite mana with the tidewater, Blue Sun's Zenith or similar). I was running minimal actual bracers and instead ran Muddle The Mixture and 1-2 bracer with cards like Serum Visions. Like you, id originally thought to use Prodigial Sorceror to kill the opponent, but this just proved mroe consistent, used less space etc.
If Fatestitcher is a valid candidate for this, you could actually do it much more easily, quickly, unpredictably, and safely with cards like Thought Scour, Jace, Vrynn's Prodigy, etc to simply unearth on the turn of the kill, drop the bracers and go off immediately
If Stoneforge Mystic gets an unban in january as speculated by many in the community, it could have potential. Until then its a little less than optimal
Brought this U/W list to FNM last tuesday and friday at my local shop.
I stand firm that we should stay 2 colors.
Tuesday 3-1 (Win: Jeskai Tempo, Grixis Shadow, Jank Brew, Lose: Gx Tron)
Friday 4-0 (Win: Jeskai Tempo, U/W Control, Grixis Shadow, Jund)
I have since cut a Curiosity, and moved spirit link and Shining shoal to the board for 3x Selfless Spirit and 1 Aqueous Form will report back again after taking the revisions on tuesday.
Also considering cutting a land for another spirit. not sure yet though. deck floods a lot
With a functional 20 Lands that tap painless for any color for Ally after the printing of Unclaimed Territory, the forever at odds R/B and G/W Allies decks can come together to form a very fast, very powerful Aggro deck with no color restriction and a distaste for Blood Moon.
Here is a basic 18 Land Aggro Shell I've thrown together and seen a lot of success with on online mediums over the past 2 and a half weeks. I havent sleeved it up yet for the sole reason that Cavern of Souls is pricey and i don't own any.
EDIT: I now own this in paper and have sleeved it up for consistent 4-0 and 3-1 finishes at my LGS over the past month.
This deck powers out a consistent and resilient creature base with a good grind that can also boast powerful alpha strikes that pay homage to goblin 8whack decks with Akoum Battlesinger, and Reckless Bushwhacker (and even a little redundancy thanks to Jwari Shapeshifter) alongside the 20 1cmc enablers. Technically this deck is also capable of breaking the turn 4 rule, though thats in a perfect world.
Good matchups against other aggro decks and speed surpassing that of even Zoo, Humans, and Affinity. Resilient to counter-magic and can come back from early disrupting. Mass evasion with Kabira Evangel and Firemantle Mage brings an ability to push through damage that most other aggro decks cant match. Most attractive aspect of this deck is definitely its consistency. Almost any 2 lander is keep-able.
Drawbacks include a lack of colored spells in the sideboard, and no dedicated mainboard removal. Creature quality also takes a hit (thanks for printing ***** playables in BFZ and OGW Wizards.) as we're forced to run less than perfect creatures such as Bojuka Brigand and Expedition Envoy to compliment and enable our threats.
I swear, R&D used up all the creature quality Allies were alloted in one go with Kazandu Blademaster.
Sideboards are meta dependant, so ive decided not to include mine. Here are some decks to be prepared for if your meta has them:
- Ensnaring Bridge Based Prison Decks (Skred, Lantern, Whir Prison, Etc. Bring hate. Pull the manabase into white if your meta is really overrun with these.)
- Sweeper Heavy Control (Some UW Builds Postboard, Esper. Selfless Spirit or similar helps these matchups)
- Phoenix (Light Hate, General Taxing such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Damping Sphere are strong. We are faster and they cant race Ondu Cleric. I feel this is a favored matchup for Allies, I only touch on it due to its popularity.)
- Fast Combo (Generic Hosers, Pithing Needle, etc)
- BGx (Pack more redundancy or maindeck Lead the Stampede with Heaths/Gardens if BGx is popular where you're playing.)
I think the potential is there. Some rough matchups definitely exist, but the pure speed and consistency is incredible.
What are your thoughts?
Glad to see you're taking an interest in the game, and in eternal formats such as Modern! Welcome to the fray
In the kindest way I can put this, This deck will not succeed.
In Magic, lifegain is not typically considered a very powerful effect, simply because it doesnt really cause you to win games, or interact with the opponent. Oftentimes, your oponnent simply doesn't care how much life you're gaining until you reach well over 45, and some decks dont at all
Also this deck does not pack a lot of redundancy. Often youll want to be running 4 of any good creature you can get your hands on.
Another problem is that a lot of these cards are simply not playable in modern due to their low powerlevel.
If you want to try a black based life drain strategy, i would advise looking into Vampire Tribal instead. (think cards like Gifted Aetherborn, Vampire Nighthawk, Vampire Nocturnus, Gatekeeper of Malakir etc. These are much more playable lifelink/kill things creatures.) I would be happy to help you build this if you're interested.
probably should run more spreading seas, less bounce spells, more counterspells, snaps, no entrancing melody(like, Threads Of Disloyalty exists, please), and less Singing Bell Strike.
The problem with Bloodsoaked Champion in your build is that he's kind of a winmore. You need a prestablished boardstate to utilize him.
Also, would cut something for a 19th land, if you crunch some numbers that would up your success rate considerably.
If you have Ratchet Bombs for now those should be fine as they cover token based go wide strategies, but i would reccomend trying to upgrade to Flaying Tendrils or Damnation, probably the former based on your curve.
Something to think about as well would be Liliana, the Last Hope. She can easily defend herself, remove x/1 creatures, as well as fuel your delve and recurr your removed creatures.
With so much GY fuel i think you should maindeck 1-2 Logic Knot if nothing else, though i see the arguement for remand.
If youre having trouble with leyline, Echoing Truth should be your go to sideboard option. It smacks lingering souls and can deal with any problematic permanent available.
Its okay to run both recall and rejection, because as i said, rejection is mostly tech for the Tron matchup, its just sort of a nice thing to have against affinity.
try Mishra's Bauble or similar. 3 skirge probably wont cut it.
Also gifts just seems like an expensive and awkward option when you could run cards like Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods
This is literally garbage. lol
My best advice is to know your deck. Decks that you build, you know exactly what you want, and how risky you can be, because you designed it.
Another thing to consider would be doing some math. Pull up a Hyper-Geometric Calculator and run some numbers to see how risky it is to keep 1/2/3 land hands, and the %chance youll draw another with the remaining cards in your library (53 on turn 1, 52 on turn 2, etc).
Lastly, sit down and goldfish 100 hands. Keep them all and play a singleplayer game of magic. See what works, and take note of it.
Imo aether vial isn't worth when the bottom of your curve is essentially 3. I'd reccomene cutting it for some utility cards
If Fatestitcher is a valid candidate for this, you could actually do it much more easily, quickly, unpredictably, and safely with cards like Thought Scour, Jace, Vrynn's Prodigy, etc to simply unearth on the turn of the kill, drop the bracers and go off immediately
Leyline of Sanctity
Rest in Peace
Disenchant
Celestial Purge
I stand firm that we should stay 2 colors.
Tuesday 3-1 (Win: Jeskai Tempo, Grixis Shadow, Jank Brew, Lose: Gx Tron)
Friday 4-0 (Win: Jeskai Tempo, U/W Control, Grixis Shadow, Jund)
// 24 Creature
4 Tallowisp
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Steel of the Godhead
1 Angelic Destiny
2 Curiosity
2 Curse of Chains
1 Spirit Link
// 6 Instant
2 Shining Shoal
4 Disrupting Shoal
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Plains
5 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Eiganjo Castle
3 Flooded Strand
I have since cut a Curiosity, and moved spirit link and Shining shoal to the board for 3x Selfless Spirit and 1 Aqueous Form will report back again after taking the revisions on tuesday.
Also considering cutting a land for another spirit. not sure yet though. deck floods a lot
Here are the lands in Question that make this possible:
Ally Encampment
Cavern of Souls
Unclaimed Territory
Ancient Ziggurat
Reflecting Pool
Here is a basic 18 Land Aggro Shell I've thrown together and seen a lot of success with on online mediums over the past 2 and a half weeks. I havent sleeved it up yet for the sole reason that Cavern of Souls is pricey and i don't own any.
EDIT: I now own this in paper and have sleeved it up for consistent 4-0 and 3-1 finishes at my LGS over the past month.
This deck powers out a consistent and resilient creature base with a good grind that can also boast powerful alpha strikes that pay homage to goblin 8whack decks with Akoum Battlesinger, and Reckless Bushwhacker (and even a little redundancy thanks to Jwari Shapeshifter) alongside the 20 1cmc enablers. Technically this deck is also capable of breaking the turn 4 rule, though thats in a perfect world.
Good matchups against other aggro decks and speed surpassing that of even Zoo, Humans, and Affinity. Resilient to counter-magic and can come back from early disrupting. Mass evasion with Kabira Evangel and Firemantle Mage brings an ability to push through damage that most other aggro decks cant match. Most attractive aspect of this deck is definitely its consistency. Almost any 2 lander is keep-able.
Drawbacks include a lack of colored spells in the sideboard, and no dedicated mainboard removal. Creature quality also takes a hit (thanks for printing ***** playables in BFZ and OGW Wizards.) as we're forced to run less than perfect creatures such as Bojuka Brigand and Expedition Envoy to compliment and enable our threats.
I swear, R&D used up all the creature quality Allies were alloted in one go with Kazandu Blademaster.
Original List:
4 Aether Vial
Creature (38)
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Akoum Battlesinger
2 Bojuka Brigand / Firemantle Mage
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Plains
EDIT:
This is what i'm currently playing with as of 4/1/2019. I've had nothing but good games and solid showings from it at local events.
4 Aether Vial
Creature (33)
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
4 Jwari Shapeshifter
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Ondu Cleric
1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
3 Dismember
Land (19)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ally Encampment
4 Ancient Ziggurat
3 Unclaimed Territory
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Plains
Sideboards are meta dependant, so ive decided not to include mine. Here are some decks to be prepared for if your meta has them:
- Ensnaring Bridge Based Prison Decks (Skred, Lantern, Whir Prison, Etc. Bring hate. Pull the manabase into white if your meta is really overrun with these.)
- Sweeper Heavy Control (Some UW Builds Postboard, Esper. Selfless Spirit or similar helps these matchups)
- Phoenix (Light Hate, General Taxing such as Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Damping Sphere are strong. We are faster and they cant race Ondu Cleric. I feel this is a favored matchup for Allies, I only touch on it due to its popularity.)
- Fast Combo (Generic Hosers, Pithing Needle, etc)
- BGx (Pack more redundancy or maindeck Lead the Stampede with Heaths/Gardens if BGx is popular where you're playing.)
I think the potential is there. Some rough matchups definitely exist, but the pure speed and consistency is incredible.
What are your thoughts?
In the kindest way I can put this, This deck will not succeed.
In Magic, lifegain is not typically considered a very powerful effect, simply because it doesnt really cause you to win games, or interact with the opponent. Oftentimes, your oponnent simply doesn't care how much life you're gaining until you reach well over 45, and some decks dont at all
Also this deck does not pack a lot of redundancy. Often youll want to be running 4 of any good creature you can get your hands on.
Another problem is that a lot of these cards are simply not playable in modern due to their low powerlevel.
If you want to try a black based life drain strategy, i would advise looking into Vampire Tribal instead. (think cards like Gifted Aetherborn, Vampire Nighthawk, Vampire Nocturnus, Gatekeeper of Malakir etc. These are much more playable lifelink/kill things creatures.) I would be happy to help you build this if you're interested.
Initial reccomendations:
- (5-7) Void Snare/Boomerang/Echoing Truth
+ (1) Cyclonic Rift
+ (2) Spreading Seas
- (1) Sea's Claim
- (1) Leyline of Anticipation
+ (2) Cryptic Command
- (1) Singing Bell Strike
+ (2-4) Snapcaster Mage
+ (2-4) Counterspell (Many Options Here)
+ (4) Serum Visions
Also, would cut something for a 19th land, if you crunch some numbers that would up your success rate considerably.
If you have Ratchet Bombs for now those should be fine as they cover token based go wide strategies, but i would reccomend trying to upgrade to Flaying Tendrils or Damnation, probably the former based on your curve.
Something to think about as well would be Liliana, the Last Hope. She can easily defend herself, remove x/1 creatures, as well as fuel your delve and recurr your removed creatures.
With so much GY fuel i think you should maindeck 1-2 Logic Knot if nothing else, though i see the arguement for remand.
If youre having trouble with leyline, Echoing Truth should be your go to sideboard option. It smacks lingering souls and can deal with any problematic permanent available.
Its okay to run both recall and rejection, because as i said, rejection is mostly tech for the Tron matchup, its just sort of a nice thing to have against affinity.